Best Home Defense Weapon

got into this with a kid in the ER, he’s married and wants a weapon. i’ve kind of become the “gun guy” within my work circle and i have without a doubt my hands down choice for a best home defense and all around great/reliable gun.

the mossburg 500 persuader. i took it to the range this weekend and dropped lead on target. felt great. it’s also relatively cheap and you can cop one for about $300. that’s a DAMN good deal. i also like the mossburg 500 cruiser. it’s a short, basic, easy to use shot gun. though i’d suggest it more for bigger guys. i wouldn’t rock it since it’s just a pistol grip shottie.

personally, i chose the mossburg BECAUSE of the safety. look, in a defensive posture, you’re going to put the weapon in the red once you recognize you have a threat. you AREN’T going to unsafety it AS you’re being rushed. the safety on the remingto 870 is on the trigger guard and on the other side is the action release. DID NOT like that. but do your home work and try both. roll with whichever one is most comfy for you.

as for ammo, i’m a HUGE fan of the winchester PDX1 12 rounds. it’s a slug and 3 00 buckshots. these fuckers do some SERIOUS damage.

some want a pistol. which is fine. depending on your state; IF you have to use it on an intruder- the gun will be confiscated. so for me (as a guy without a ton of $$$) i roll with a Ruger P95.

yes. it’s a smaller caliber, but i’m 5’4″…it’s easier for me to handle. BUT 15+1…..that’s a LOT of rounds. lol. the price and the reliability make the weapon perfect for me. plus it’s relatively easy to strip and clean. my neighbor has a glock; cool. he makes $275k a year, i don’t lol. the ruger works just fine.

my ruger with lasermax sight. for $289, you can’t beat it.

my persuader. i keep the brass down though for quick reload. this one has a light. if you have it facing you will WILL NOT be able to see. lol.

and YES, i do have a sling that attaches to the gun and holds 15 shells. anyone reading looking to get me a christmas/birfdae gift; i’d LOVE an AA-12. just saying. oh….you don’t, ok….gimme a sec.

Danny, appreciate the ruger rec. huge fan of the G-19 and the Beretta 92, grad student though so i dont want to buy in my state (florida) only to get a job offer to move to some place like NYC. Question on the Alpha Cred front: some of those northeastern “women” look at the pistol toting as morally abhorrent. Got any good way to shut her down without a) pissing her off or b) simply saying ” I DO WHAT I WANT”?

Think about using Aguila Minishells for anything that is short range (i.e. indoors). Lower recoil for faster follow-ups (and for women – particularly novice women who generally always adopt that goofy leaning back shooting stance – ladies get you mass behind the damn gun…..). These basically double your shotgun’s capacity (btw, look at the kel-tec KSG if you are interested in a higher capacity shotgun option and have the cash). BE SURE TO TEST IN YOUR SHOTGUN BEFORE YOU RELY ON THEM……

For you pistol, use frangible rounds to reduce over-penetration risk. These are pricey so not for practice BUT AGAIN MAKE SURE TO TEST BEFORE YOU RELY ON THEM.

Also, at a minimum you need a light on each of your home/personal defense weapons. Better yet a light/laser combo with an intermittent on/off switch that you can reach while the weapon is deployed.

Personally, my home defense weapon for going down a hall is a SBRd 9mm (thinking of moving to a Kriss 45..), but I suspect I’ve spent a bit more time in the shoot house than most people.

Oh, also, anybody who has a firearm in the house for use in home defense. YOU NEED TO LEARN THE BASICS OF ROOM CLEARING. That means understanding (and practicing WITH AN UNLOADED FIREARM) “slicing the pie”, avoiding presenting target indicators (e.g., don’t extend your damn shotgun around corners – someone is only gonna grab it and beat you to death with it) and how to scan for them, the use of intermittent light in target identification and distraction and how to quickly enter a room to avoid the “fatal funnel”.

You also should know your house from a tactical perspective very well if you may need to do a rapid clearing (i.e., if you’ve got to go get your kids). If you don’t need to clear the house (i.e., no kids, etc.), close/bar the bedroom door, call the cops (tell them you are armed and where you are) and light-up anything that attempts to come in without identifying themselves.

That’s why an SBR like my UMP is also ideal. Can’t be taken away or protrude because it only has a 7 inch barrel and a total length of 27 inches with the stock extended plus a sling to wrap around. And 25 round mag to boot. Have a MAR as well but 5.56 is too powerful for home defense.

but in most cases if an invader KNOWS you have a gun they’ll flee. i’d rack the gun to let them know i’m armed. having a dog helps a LOT too. best early warning device EVAAAAAAAR. if you don’t belong in my house, Brody will eat your face. from there i can pop lead into you.

Totally agree on the dog thing, although in my case I’ve got a pair of pointing labs (for hunting and the soft mouth around the kids) and not a Belgian “Malligator” or two that I would want for the job…

On the slide racking thing, I respectfully disagree. Anyone in your house while you are clearly there (or are probably there – so not talking clear vacation home burglaries) are either ready to take you on or are too stupid or to high to realize what they have bitten off in coming into an occupied house. In either of these cases slide racking is a target indicator for them that lets them know 1. where you are and 2. that you are probably limited to 3-8 rounds. I understand your point, but I’d rather not given them that information at any time before my biggest concern was how I was going to remove their skull fragments from my wallpaper.

If you have a firearm in the house set up for home defense, you absolutely need to invest in either: 1. amplified shooting ear protection (i.e., the ear muffs that cut out loud noises but amplify other sound) or 2. a few hearing safe suppressors. In either case these things (and I would recommend No. 1 for a variety of reasons) need to be with your home defense firearm and need to be employed with it in a HD situation.

Most people have never fired a weapon (particularly a shotgun) in an enclosed space, but if you have (and I recommend doing it once) you are going to realize that there is a high likelihood that your first round in a HD situation is going to fry your hearing for at least a couple minutes.

Yeah, I understand and agree. I guess my point boils down the the situation where a criminal knowingly goes into a situation where there is a significant probability of a gun being present and employed (i.e., an occupied house in a state where guns are not heavily restricted) or any other situation that may prevent them from acquiring your property with the minimum of hassle/danger. In that case the criminal is either not making rational choices or, more worryingly, is making a rational choice and your “stuff” may not be their primary target. With either motivation, my goal is to end the threat with a minimum risk to myself/family, and I begin to question the deterrent value of the racking of a SG slide vs the information conveyed.

Solid choices both. I prefer a carbine to a shottie but no matter, both will get the job done. The Ruger is an underappreciated gun, They are crazy reliable, inexpensive and with the extra weight (no issue in a house gun) the recoil is easier to control.

Also with both these weapons being reasonably priced you can afford to get some extra ammo and professional training, both of which will serve you better than a cooler gun.

My Mosin is just gonna have to do for me. I’d rather not shoot it in the house cause it would probably wind up in the neighbors kitchen, but I wonder what a prosecutor would say if I stuck a would be burglar with the bayonet?

Didn’t read everyone’s comments but shotguns are great for home defense. Yes the sound alone can scare off an invader and if they do need to fire, there will be a hole in that person that even Doc here cant fix. What some people don’t realize is or even think about is, where do those rounds go when you fire. Hopefully into your desired target. Let’s say you miss (Close Quarters with a shotgun, I pray you don’t) those pellets will have a more difficult time getting through your walls then lets say an AR-15 shooting 5.56. I have a couple friends that wentout and got themselves some AR’s as their “home defense”. One has a child of 2. If someone breaks into their home that round has the possibility of going through that person or even through their wall and god forbid into their childs room. Shotgun, much less likely to do so. Just some food for thought. Mossberg is great for the price, what we use as breach tools lol

Honestly, shotguns have more penetration issues than you’d think. An AR with frangibles is probably your best bet. That said…it is the Mossberg 500 (and Glock 22) next to my bed! Racking the slide is usually good enough to get the job done and a worn in Mossberg is the next best thing to an AK in reliability. I agree with you on the Glock being too expensive to get confiscated but it is the pistol I am the second most accurate with. (The first being the Peacemaker but I’d just as soon not go single action, or the Tokarev…and if you want to talk about over-penetration!)

The pump-action shotgun is also as simple as a weapon system can be. Load the magazine, pump the action, press the trigger—it doesn’t get much simpler than that! If the gun malfunctions, just cycle the action and shoot again. If a round gets stuck, it can usually be cleared by striking the butt sharply on the ground while holding the action release button. Indeed, a well-built pump-action shotgun will last a long time and will require very little maintenance. Just clean it, wipe a bit of oil over the exposed metal and it will take a large amount of abuse and rough treatment.